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Ginat-Frolich R, Gilboa-Schechtman E, Huppert JD, Aderka IM, Alden LE, Bar-Haim Y, Becker ES, Bernstein A, Geva R, Heimberg RG, Hofmann SG, Kashdan TB, Koster EHW, Lipsitz J, Maner JK, Moscovitch DA, Philippot P, Rapee RM, Roelofs K, Rodebaugh TL, Schneier FR, Schultheiss OC, Shahar B, Stangier U, Stein MB, Stopa L, Taylor CT, Weeks JW, Wieser MJ. Vulnerabilities in social anxiety: Integrating intra- and interpersonal perspectives. Clin Psychol Rev 2024; 109:102415. [PMID: 38493675 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The present paper provides an integrative summary of basic and applied translational research on social anxiety, emphasizing vulnerability factors. It is divided into two subsections: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The intrapersonal section synthesizes research relating to (a) self-representations and self-referential processes; (b) emotions and their regulation; and (c) cognitive biases: attention, interpretation and judgment, and memory. The interpersonal section summarizes findings regarding the systems of (a) approach and avoidance, (b) affiliation and social rank, and their implications for interpersonal impairments. Our review suggests that the science of social anxiety and, more generally, psychopathology may be advanced by examining processes and their underlying content within broad psychological systems. Increased interaction between basic and applied researchers to diversify and elaborate different perspectives on social anxiety is necessary for progress.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Idan M Aderka
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel
| | - Lynn E Alden
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada
| | - Yair Bar-Haim
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel
| | - Eni S Becker
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Amit Bernstein
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel
| | - Ronny Geva
- Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Israel
| | - Richard G Heimberg
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, United States of America
| | - Stefan G Hofmann
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, United States of America
| | - Todd B Kashdan
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Ernst H W Koster
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium
| | | | - Jon K Maner
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Florida, United States of America
| | - David A Moscovitch
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Mental Health Research & Treatment, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Pierre Philippot
- Department of Psychology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
| | - Ronald M Rapee
- Centre for Emotional Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands; Donders Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Thomas L Rodebaugh
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Franklin R Schneier
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, United States of America
| | | | - Ben Shahar
- The Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ulrich Stangier
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Murray B Stein
- Department of Psychiatry and School of Public Health, University of California San Diego, United States of America
| | - Lusia Stopa
- Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Charles T Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry and School of Public Health, University of California San Diego, United States of America
| | - Justin W Weeks
- Department of Psychology, Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America
| | - Matthias J Wieser
- Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Taylor CT, Stein MB, Simmons AN, He F, Oveis C, Shakya HB, Sieber WJ, Fowler JH, Jain S. Amplification of Positivity Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: A Randomized Experimental Therapeutics Trial Targeting Social Reward Sensitivity to Enhance Social Connectedness. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 95:434-443. [PMID: 37607657 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social disconnection is common and causes significant impairment in anxiety and depressive disorders, and it does not respond sufficiently to available treatments. The positive valence system supports social bond formation and maintenance but is often hyporesponsive in people with anxiety or depression. We conducted an experimental therapeutics trial to test the hypothesis that targeting positive valence processes through cognitive and behavioral strategies would enhance responsivity to social rewards, a core mechanism underlying social connectedness. METHODS Sixty-eight adults who endorsed clinically elevated anxiety and/or depression with social impairment were randomized 1:1:1 to 5 (n = 23) or 10 (n = 22) sessions of amplification of positivity (AMP) treatment or waitlist (n = 23). Pre- to posttreatment change in striatal activity (primary outcome) during social reward anticipation was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and reactivity to a social affiliation task (secondary) and self-reported social connectedness (exploratory) were examined. Primary analyses compared AMP (doses combined) versus waitlist. A second aim was to compare the effects of different doses. RESULTS AMP engaged the hypothesized treatment target, leading to greater striatal activation during anticipation of social rewards versus waitlist (d = 1.01 [95% CI = 0.42-1.61]; largest striatal volume). AMP yielded larger improvements in positive affect and approach behavior during the affiliation task (but not other outcomes) and social connectedness. Larger striatal and social connectedness increases were observed for 5-session versus 10-session AMP (d range = 0.08-1.03). CONCLUSIONS Teaching people with anxiety or depression strategies to increase positive thoughts, behaviors, and emotions enhances activity in brain regions that govern social reward processing and promotes social connectedness. Social reward sensitivity may be a transdiagnostic target for remediating social disconnection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles T Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California.
| | - Murray B Stein
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California; VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California
| | - Alan N Simmons
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California; VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California
| | - Feng He
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - Christopher Oveis
- Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - Holly B Shakya
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - William J Sieber
- Department of Family Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - James H Fowler
- Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - Sonia Jain
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
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Lin H, Bruchmann M, Straube T. Altered Putamen Activation for Social Comparison-Related Feedback in Social Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Study. Neuropsychobiology 2023; 82:359-372. [PMID: 37717563 DOI: 10.1159/000531762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by abnormal processing of performance-related social stimuli. Previous studies have shown altered emotional experiences and activations of different sub-regions of the striatum during processing of social stimuli in patients with SAD. However, whether and to what extent social comparisons affect behavioural and neural responses to feedback stimuli in patients with SAD is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS To address this issue, emotional ratings and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses were assessed while patients suffering from SAD and healthy controls (HC) were required to perform a choice task and received performance feedback (correct, incorrect, non-informative) that varied in relation to the performance of fictitious other participants (a few, half, or most of others had the same outcome). RESULTS Across all performance feedback conditions, fMRI analyses revealed reduced activations in bilateral putamen when feedback was assumed to be received by only a few compared to half of the other participants in patients with SAD. Nevertheless, analysis of rating data showed a similar modulation of valence and arousal ratings in patients with SAD and HC depending on social comparison-related feedback. CONCLUSIONS This suggests altered neural processing of performance feedback depending on social comparisons in patients with SAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huiyan Lin
- Laboratory for Behavioral and Regional Finance, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, China
- Institute of Applied Psychology, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, China
| | - Maximilian Bruchmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Thomas Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Potsch L, Rief W. Transdiagnostic considerations of the relationship between reward sensitivity and psychopathological symptoms - a cross-lagged panel analysis. BMC Psychiatry 2023; 23:650. [PMID: 37667190 PMCID: PMC10478275 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-023-05139-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Reward sensitivity constitutes a potential key mechanism regarding the etiology and maintenance of mental disorders, especially depression. However, due to a lack of longitudinal studies, the temporal dynamics are not clear yet. Although some evidence indicates that reward processing could be a transdiagnostic mechanism of disorders, these observations could be also a product of comorbidity with depression. This study aimed at investigating the temporal dynamics of reward sensitivity and the course of psychopathological symptoms in a longitudinal investigation, while taking a possible mediating role of depression into account. METHODS We conducted a three-wave longitudinal online survey with a 4-week interval. A total of N = 453 participants filled out all three questionnaires. Reward sensitivity was assessed with the Positive Valence System Scale-21 (PVSS-21), depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), eating disorder symptoms with the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire-8 (EDE-Q-8), social anxiety with the Mini-social phobia inventory (Mini-SPIN) and alcohol consumption with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C). Cross-lagged panels and mediation analyses were calculated using path analyses. RESULTS Depressive and eating disorder symptoms predicted reward insensitivity at later points in time. Effects were larger from T2 to T3. A bidirectional relationship concerning social anxiety was found. Higher alcohol consumption predicted higher reward sensitivity. Depression at T2 fully mediated the association between psychopathological symptoms at T1 and reward sensitivity at T3 for social anxiety and eating disorder symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Our findings imply that reduced reward sensitivity seems to be a consequence rather than an antecedent of psychopathological symptoms. Comorbid depression plays a crucial role in other mental disorders regarding observed hyposensitivity towards rewards. Therefore, our results do not support a transdiagnostic notion of reward sensitivity, but they indicate a potential role of reward sensitivity for symptom persistence. TRIAL REGISTRATION The study was preregistered at the Open Science Framework (OSF) ( https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-6n3s8-v1 ; registration DOI https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6N3S8 ).
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Affiliation(s)
- L Potsch
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Philipps-University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, D-35032, Marburg, Germany.
| | - W Rief
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Philipps-University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, D-35032, Marburg, Germany
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Nicolaisen-Sobesky E, Paz V, Cervantes-Constantino F, Fernández-Theoduloz G, Pérez A, Martínez-Montes E, Kessel D, Cabana Á, Gradin VB. Event-related potentials during the ultimatum game in people with symptoms of depression and/or social anxiety. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14319. [PMID: 37118970 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 03/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
Depression and social anxiety are common disorders that have a profound impact on social functioning. The need for studying the neural substrates of social interactions in mental disorders using interactive tasks has been emphasized. The field of neuroeconomics, which combines neuroscience techniques and behavioral economics multiplayer tasks such as the Ultimatum Game (UG), can contribute in this direction. We assessed emotions, behavior, and Event-Related Potentials in participants with depression and/or social anxiety symptoms (MD/SA, n = 63, 57 females) and healthy controls (n = 72, 67 females), while they played the UG. In this task, participants received fair, mid-value, and unfair offers from other players. Mixed linear models were implemented to assess trial level changes in neural activity. The MD/SA group reported higher levels of sadness in response to mid-value and unfair offers compared to controls. In controls, the Medial Frontal Negativity associated with fair offers increased over time, while this dynamic was not observed in the MD/SA group. The MD/SA group showed a decreased P3/LPP in all offers, compared to controls. These results indicate an enhanced negative emotional response to unfairness in the MD/SA group. Neural results reveal a blunted response over time to positive social stimuli in the MD/SA group. Moreover, between-group differences in P3/LPP may relate to a reduced saliency of offers and/or to a reduced availability of resources for processing incoming stimuli in the MD/SA group. Findings may shed light into the neural substrates of social difficulties in these disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliana Nicolaisen-Sobesky
- Center for Basic Research in Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7: Brain and Behaviour), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Valentina Paz
- Center for Basic Research in Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Instituto de Fundamentos y Métodos en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Instituto de Psicología Clínica, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | | | - Gabriela Fernández-Theoduloz
- Center for Basic Research in Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Instituto de Psicología Clínica, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Alfonso Pérez
- Center for Basic Research in Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | | | - Dominique Kessel
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Álvaro Cabana
- Center for Basic Research in Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Instituto de Fundamentos y Métodos en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Victoria B Gradin
- Center for Basic Research in Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Instituto de Fundamentos y Métodos en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
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Beltzer ML, Daniel KE, Daros AR, Teachman BA. Examining social reinforcement learning in social anxiety. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2023; 80:101810. [PMID: 37247976 PMCID: PMC10227359 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Reinforcement learning biases have been empirically linked to anhedonia in depression and theoretically linked to social anhedonia in social anxiety disorder, but little work has directly assessed how socially anxious individuals learn from social reward and punishment. METHODS N = 157 individuals high and low in social anxiety symptoms completed a social probabilistic selection task that involved selecting between pairs of neutral faces with varying probabilities of changing to a happy or angry face. Computational modeling was performed to estimate learning rates. Accuracy in choosing the more rewarding face was also analyzed. RESULTS No significant group differences were found for learning rates. Contrary to hypotheses, participants high in social anxiety showed impaired punishment learning accuracy; they were more accurate at choosing the most rewarding face than they were at avoiding the most punishing face, and their punishment learning accuracy was lower than that of participants low in social anxiety. Secondary analyses found that high (vs. low) social anxiety participants were less accurate at selecting the more rewarding face on more (vs. less) punishing face pairs. LIMITATIONS Stimuli were static, White, facial images, which lack important social cues (e.g., movement, sound) and diversity, and participants were largely non-Hispanic, White undergraduates, whose social reinforcement learning may differ from individuals at different developmental stages and those holding more marginalized identities. CONCLUSIONS Socially anxious individuals may be less accurate at learning to avoid social punishment, which may maintain negative beliefs through an interpersonal stress generation process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miranda L Beltzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, USA; Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, USA.
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Shany O, Dunsky N, Gilam G, Greental A, Gilboa-Schechtman E, Hendler T. Self-evaluation of social-rank in socially anxious individuals associates with enhanced striatal reward function. Psychol Med 2023; 53:4569-4579. [PMID: 35698849 PMCID: PMC10388315 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291722001453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Negative self-views, especially in the domain of power (i.e. social-rank), characterize social anxiety (SA). Neuroimaging studies on self-evaluations in SA have mainly focused on subcortical threat processing systems. Yet, self-evaluation may concurrently invoke diverse affective processing, as motivational systems related to desired self-views may also be activated. To investigate the conflictual nature that may accompany self-evaluation of certain social domains in SA, we examined brain activity related to both threat and reward processing. METHODS Participants (N = 74) differing in self-reported SA-severity underwent fMRI while completing a self-evaluation task, wherein they judged the self-descriptiveness of high- v. low-intensity traits in the domains of power and affiliation (i.e. social connectedness). Participants also completed two auxiliary fMRI tasks designated to evoke reward- and threat-related activations in the ventral striatum (VS) and amygdala, respectively. We hypothesized that self-evaluations in SA, particularly in the domain of power, involve aberrant brain activity related to both threat and reward processing. RESULTS SA-severity was more negatively associated with power than with affiliation self-evaluations. During self-evaluative judgment of high-power (e.g. dominant), SA-severity associated with increased activity in the VS and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Moreover, SA-severity correlated with higher similarity between brain activity patterns activated by high-power traits and patterns activated by incentive salience (i.e. reward anticipation) in the VS during the reward task. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that self-evaluation of high-power in SA involves excessive striatal reward-related activation, and pinpoint the downregulation of VS-VMPFC activity within such self-evaluative context as a potential neural outcome for therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ofir Shany
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sagol Brain Institute, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Netta Dunsky
- Sagol Brain Institute, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Gadi Gilam
- Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ayam Greental
- Sagol Brain Institute, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Eva Gilboa-Schechtman
- Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Science Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Talma Hendler
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sagol Brain Institute, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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Carlton CN, Antezana L, Richey JA. Associations between resting-state neural connectivity and positive affect in social anxiety disorder. Brain Behav 2023; 13:e3006. [PMID: 37062915 PMCID: PMC10275543 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been characterized by deficits in social motivation and lack of reactivity to pleasurable stimuli (i.e., positive affect; [PA]). Recent neuroimaging work has shifted toward examining positively valenced motivational systems in SAD focused on reward responses. However, little is known about the associations of reward connectivity and PA in individuals with SAD. As such, the purpose of the current study was to determine whether connectivity among key units of reward neurocircuitry meaningfully relate to PA and whether these key units are more heterogeneous in SAD as compared to controls. METHODS Thirty-one participants who met diagnostic criteria for SAD and 33 control participants were included (Mage = 24.8, SD = 6.9; 55% cisgender man). Seed-based timeseries correlations were conducted in NiTime to extract region of interest (ROI) coupling correlation strength values. ANOVAs were carried out to assess whether individuals with SAD differed in ROI-to-ROI connectivity strength as compared to controls. Correlations and variance analyses were also conducted to examine the relationship between ROI-to-ROI connectivity strength and PA, as well as heterogeneity in connectivity strength and PA expression. RESULTS Weaker connectivity between the left and right orbital frontal cortex was observed when comparing the SAD to the control group. Within the SAD group, PA was associated with several reward-related ROI couplings; however, these links were not observed among controls. Results further demonstrated that individuals with SAD had significantly more variability in reward connectivity strength as compared to controls. CONCLUSION Overall, these results provide emergent evidence for the association between reward regions and PA in individuals with SAD. Additionally, these findings show that individuals with SAD demonstrate greater heterogeneity in reward connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - John A. Richey
- Department of PsychologyVirginia TechBlacksburgVirginia
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of MedicinePittsburghPennsylvania
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Sobczak A, Yousuf M, Bunzeck N. Anticipating social feedback involves basal forebrain and mesolimbic functional connectivity. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120131. [PMID: 37094625 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The mesolimbic system and basal forebrain (BF) are implicated in processing rewards and punishment, but their interplay and functional properties of subregions with respect to future social outcomes remain unclear. Therefore, this study investigated regional responses and interregional functional connectivity of the lateral (l), medial (m), and ventral (v) Substantia Nigra (SN), Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc), Nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM), and Medial Septum/Diagonal Band (MS/DB) during reward and punishment anticipation in a social incentive delay task with neutral, positive, and negative feedback using high-resolution fMRI (1.5mm3). Neuroimaging data (n=36 healthy humans) of the anticipation phase was analyzed using mass-univariate, functional connectivity, and multivariate-pattern analysis. As expected, participants responded faster when anticipating positive and negative compared to neutral social feedback. At the neural level, anticipating social information engaged valence-related and valence-unrelated functional connectivity patterns involving the BF and mesolimbic areas. Precisely, valence-related connectivity between the lSN and NBM was associated with anticipating neutral social feedback, while connectivity between the vSN and NBM was associated with anticipating positive social feedback. A more complex pattern was observed for anticipating negative social feedback, including connectivity between the lSN and MS/DB, lSN and NAcc, as well as mSN and NAcc. To conclude, behavioral responses are modulated by the possibility to obtain positive and avoid negative social feedback. The neural processing of feedback anticipation relies on functional connectivity patterns between the BF and mesolimbic areas associated with the emotional valence of the social information. As such, our findings give novel insights into the underlying neural processes of social information processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Sobczak
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.
| | - Mushfa Yousuf
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Nico Bunzeck
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
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Hudd T, Moscovitch DA. Social anxiety inhibits needs repair following exclusion in both relational and non-relational reward contexts: The mediating role of positive affect. Behav Res Ther 2023; 162:104270. [PMID: 36746058 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2023.104270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The pain of social exclusion can motivate people to capitalize on opportunities to reconnect with others and repair their self-esteem and feelings of belongingness. This effect is often diminished for those with high social anxiety (HSA). Prior research suggests this may be due to their diminished capacity for recognizing and emotionally responding to relational reward cues. We investigated whether non-relational success experiences in the aftermath of exclusion may be an alternative means of repairing threatened self-esteem and belongingness in HSA individuals. In a preregistered, online study, we threatened belongingness and self-esteem in 422 participants by excluding them in a Cyberball game and then assigned them to one of three conditions: Relational Repair, Non-Relational Repair, or a No-Repair control condition. Results showed that both repair contexts facilitated needs repair relative to the no-repair control condition, and mediation analyses suggested this effect was driven by increased positive affect (PA). HSA individuals were less likely to restore needs regardless of condition and this effect appeared to be driven by low PA. Findings emphasize the critical role of PA for restoring threatened needs in the aftermath of exclusion and suggest that HSA inhibits needs repair processes across both relational and non-relational reward contexts.
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Bomyea J, Sweet A, Davey DK, Boland M, Paulus MP, Stein MB, Taylor CT. Randomized controlled trial of computerized approach/avoidance training in social anxiety disorder: Neural and symptom outcomes. J Affect Disord 2023; 324:36-45. [PMID: 36549342 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 12/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Social anxiety is associated with diminished automatic approach toward positive social cues that may limit the ability to connect with others. This diminished approach bias may be a modifiable treatment target. We evaluated the effects of an approach avoidance training procedure on positive emotions, social relationship outcomes, clinical symptoms, and neural indices of social approach and reward processing. Forty-five individuals with social anxiety disorder were randomized (parallel 1:1 randomization) to complete computerized Approach Positive training (n = 21) or Balanced training(n = 24). Sessions included a standardized social interaction task. Participants were blind to training group. Participants completed clinical outcome measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and post intervention with an MRI-compatible AAT and the social incentive delay task (SID). Both groups displayed significant improvements of similar magnitude on the primary outcome of social connectedness (between group post-treatment d = -0.21) but not positive affect (d = -0.09), from before to after treatment, persisting through follow-up. Groups demonstrated significant improvements on additional outcomes including anxiety, depression, and anhedonia symptoms. Participants in Approach Positive AAT demonstrated increased activation in the thalamus and medial prefrontal cortex during social versus neutral- approach relative to Balanced AAT during the fMRI AAT. Participants in Balanced AAT showed increased activation in regions within an a priori-defined striatum region of interest mask during anticipation of social reward (vs. baseline) in the SID relative to Approach Positive AAT. At a neural processing level AAT may influence the valuation and motivations associated with positive social cues regulated by the mPFC and thalamus. NCT02136212, NIMH R00MH090243.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Bomyea
- VA San Diego Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, United States of America; University of California San Diego, United States of America
| | - Alison Sweet
- University of California San Diego, United States of America
| | - Delaney K Davey
- VA San Diego Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, United States of America; University of California San Diego, United States of America
| | - Matthew Boland
- University of Nevada Reno, United States of America; University of Nevada School of Medicine
| | - Martin P Paulus
- University of California San Diego, United States of America; Laureate Institute for Brain Research, United States of America
| | - Murray B Stein
- University of California San Diego, United States of America
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12
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Fliegel DK, Lichenstein SD. Systematic literature review of human studies assessing the efficacy of cannabidiol for social anxiety. PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 2022; 2:100074. [PMID: 36875967 PMCID: PMC9983614 DOI: 10.1016/j.psycom.2022.100074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The current review evaluates the potential of cannabidiol (CBD) as a promising pharmacotherapy for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Although a number of evidence-based treatments for SAD are available, less than a third of affected individuals experience symptom remission after one year of treatment. Therefore, improved treatment options are urgently needed, and CBD is one candidate medication that may have certain benefits over current pharmacotherapies, including the absence of sedating side effects, reduced abuse liability, and rapid course of action. The current review provides a brief overview of CBD's mechanisms of action, neuroimaging in SAD, and evidence for CBD's effects on the neural substrates of SAD, as well as systematically reviewing literature directly examining the efficacy of CBD for improving social anxiety among healthy volunteers and individuals with SAD. In both populations, acute CBD administration significantly decreased anxiety without co-occurring sedation. A single study has also shown chronic administration to decrease social anxiety symptoms in individuals with SAD. Collectively, the current literature suggests CBD may be a promising treatment for SAD. However, further research is needed to establish optimal dosing, assess the timecourse of CBD's anxiolytic effects, evaluate long-term CBD administration, and explore sex differences in CBD for social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sarah D. Lichenstein
- Corresponding author. 1 Church Street 7th Floor New Haven, CT, 06510, USA., (S.D. Lichenstein)
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13
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Abstract
Humans, like other animals, are fundamentally motivated to pursue rewarding outcomes and avoid aversive ones. Anxiety disorders are conceptualized, defined, and treated based on heightened sensitivity to perceived aversive outcomes, including imminent threats as well as those that are uncertain yet could occur in the future. Avoidance is the central strategy used to mitigate anticipated aversive outcomes - often at the cost of sacrificing potential rewards and hindering people from obtaining desired outcomes. It is for these reasons that people are often motivated to seek treatment. In this chapter, we consider whether and how anhedonia - the loss of interest in pursuing and/or reduced responsiveness to rewarding outcomes - may serve as a barrier to recovering from clinically impairing anxiety. Increasingly recognized as a prominent symptom in many individuals with elevated anxiety, anhedonia is not explicitly considered within prevailing theoretical models or treatment approaches of anxiety. Our goal, therefore, is to review what is known about anhedonia within the anxiety disorders and then integrate this knowledge into a functional perspective to consider how anhedonia could maintain anxiety and limit treatment response. Our overarching thesis is that anhedonia disrupts the key processes that are central to supporting anxiety recovery. We end this chapter by considering how explicitly targeting anhedonia in treatment can optimize outcomes for anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles T Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - Samantha N Hoffman
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Amanda J Khan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
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14
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Carlton CN, Garcia KM, Sullivan-Toole H, Stanton K, McDonnell CG, Richey JA. From childhood maltreatment to adult inflammation: Evidence for the mediational status of social anxiety and low positive affect. Brain Behav Immun Health 2021; 18:100366. [PMID: 34704081 PMCID: PMC8526764 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Prior work has established a robust association between childhood maltreatment and systemic inflammatory activation later in life; however, the mechanisms involved in this process remain incompletely understood. The purpose of this investigation was to examine potential mechanistic roles for social anxiety (SA) symptoms and low positive affect (PA) in the path from childhood maltreatment to elevations in circulating interleukin (IL)-6, a common biomarker of inflammatory activation. In addition, building on prior work establishing linkages between mindful awareness and reductions in systemic inflammation, we examined the potential role of trait mindfulness as a moderator of the relationships among childhood maltreatment, SA, low PA, and IL-6. A serial mediation model utilizing a large epidemiologic dataset (final N = 527) supported our central hypothesis that the direct effect of childhood maltreatment on IL-6 was fully serially statistically mediated by SA symptoms and low PA (but not high negative affect). Additionally, results indicated that individuals falling in the upper versus lower quartiles of SA symptoms demonstrated significantly elevated concentrations of IL-6, a finding that has not been previously reported. Trait mindfulness moderated the association between low PA and IL-6, to the exclusion of any paths related to negative affect. Additionally, results indicated that the effect of child maltreatment on IL-6 bypasses SA to indirectly impact IL-6 via negative affect. Overall, we conclude that childhood maltreatment and SA symptoms have a significant influence on IL-6, albeit indirectly via low PA, and the influence of PA on IL-6 may be uniquely susceptible to influence by individual differences in mindfulness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Holly Sullivan-Toole
- Virginia Tech, Department of Psychology, USA
- Temple University, Department of Psychology, USA
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15
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Carlton CN, Dike JE, Brown MFD, Stanton K, Richey JA. Motivationally-relevant domains of positive affectivity are differentially related to social anxiety symptoms. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02165-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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16
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Hjorth OR, Frick A, Gingnell M, Hoppe JM, Faria V, Hultberg S, Alaie I, Månsson KNT, Wahlstedt K, Jonasson M, Lubberink M, Antoni G, Fredrikson M, Furmark T. Expression and co-expression of serotonin and dopamine transporters in social anxiety disorder: a multitracer positron emission tomography study. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:3970-3979. [PMID: 31822819 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-019-0618-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Serotonin and dopamine are putatively involved in the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders, but positron emission tomography (PET) studies probing the two neurotransmitters in the same individuals are lacking. The aim of this multitracer PET study was to evaluate the regional expression and co-expression of the transporter proteins for serotonin (SERT) and dopamine (DAT) in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Voxel-wise binding potentials (BPND) for SERT and DAT were determined in 27 patients with SAD and 43 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, using the radioligands [11C]DASB (3-amino-4-(2-dimethylaminomethylphenylsulfanyl)-benzonitrile) and [11C]PE2I (N-(3-iodopro-2E-enyl)-2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4'-methylphenyl)nortropane). Results showed that, within transmitter systems, SAD patients exhibited higher SERT binding in the nucleus accumbens while DAT availability in the amygdala, hippocampus, and putamen correlated positively with symptom severity. At a more lenient statistical threshold, SERT and DAT BPND were also higher in other striatal and limbic regions in patients, and correlated with symptom severity, whereas no brain region showed higher binding in healthy controls. Moreover, SERT/DAT co-expression was significantly higher in SAD patients in the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen, and posterior ventral thalamus, while lower co-expression was noted in the dorsomedial thalamus. Follow-up logistic regression analysis confirmed that SAD diagnosis was significantly predicted by the statistical interaction between SERT and DAT availability, in the amygdala, putamen, and dorsomedial thalamus. Thus, SAD was associated with mainly increased expression and co-expression of the transporters for serotonin and dopamine in fear and reward-related brain regions. Resultant monoamine dysregulation may underlie SAD symptomatology and constitute a target for treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olof R Hjorth
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Andreas Frick
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,The Beijer Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Malin Gingnell
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Johanna M Hoppe
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Vanda Faria
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Center for Pain and the Brain, Department of Anesthesiology Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Smell & Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sara Hultberg
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Iman Alaie
- Department of Neuroscience, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Kristoffer N T Månsson
- Centre for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kurt Wahlstedt
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - My Jonasson
- Department of Surgical Sciences-Nuclear medicine and PET, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mark Lubberink
- Department of Surgical Sciences-Nuclear medicine and PET, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gunnar Antoni
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mats Fredrikson
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tomas Furmark
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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17
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Yu X, Ruan Y, Zhang Y, Wang J, Liu Y, Zhang J, Zhang L. Cognitive Neural Mechanism of Social Anxiety Disorder: A Meta-Analysis Based on fMRI Studies. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18115556. [PMID: 34067468 PMCID: PMC8196988 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18115556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Objective: The present meta-analysis aimed to explore the cognitive and neural mechanism of social anxiety disorder (SAD) from a whole-brain view, and compare the differences in brain activations under different task paradigms. Methods: We searched Web of Science Core Collection and other databases with the keywords related to social anxiety, social phobia, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for comparing persons with SAD to healthy controls and used the activation likelihood estimation method. Thirty-seven papers met the inclusion criteria, including 15 with emotional faces as stimuli, 8 presenting specific situations as stimuli, and 14 using other types of tasks as stimuli. Among these papers, 654 participants were in the SAD group and 594 participants were in the control group with 335 activation increase points and 115 activation decrease points. Results: Whole-brain analysis showed that compared with healthy controls, persons with SAD showed significantly lower activation of the left anterior cingulate gyrus (MNI coordinate: x = −6, y = 22, z = 38; p 0.001). Sub-group analysis based on task indicated that when performing tasks with emotional faces as stimuli, persons with SAD showed significantly lower activation of the left cerebellar slope and fusiform gyrus (MNI coordinate: x = −26, y = −68, z = −12; p 0.001), and significantly higher activation of the right supramarginal gyrus and angular gyrus, than healthy controls (MNI coordinate: x = 58, y = −52, z = 30; p 0.001). Conclusion: Individuals with social anxiety disorder show abnormal activation in the cingulate gyrus, which is responsible for the process of attention control, and task type can influence the activation pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianglian Yu
- Department of Education, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China; (X.Y.); (J.W.); (Y.L.)
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Yijun Ruan
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China;
| | - Yawen Zhang
- Department of Medical Psychology, School of Health Humanities, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China;
| | - Jiayi Wang
- Department of Education, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China; (X.Y.); (J.W.); (Y.L.)
| | - Yuting Liu
- Department of Education, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China; (X.Y.); (J.W.); (Y.L.)
| | - Jibiao Zhang
- Department of Education, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China; (X.Y.); (J.W.); (Y.L.)
- Correspondence: (J.Z.); (L.Z.); Tel.: +86-151-1631-9551 (J.Z.); Tel.: +86-186-2215-2329 (L.Z.)
| | - Lin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430056, China
- Correspondence: (J.Z.); (L.Z.); Tel.: +86-151-1631-9551 (J.Z.); Tel.: +86-186-2215-2329 (L.Z.)
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18
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Gerrans P, Murray RJ. Interoceptive active inference and self-representation in social anxiety disorder (SAD): exploring the neurocognitive traits of the SAD self. Neurosci Conscious 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/nc/niaa026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
This article provides an interoceptive active inference (IAI) account of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Through a neurocognitive framework, we argue that the cognitive and behavioural profile of SAD is best conceived of as a form of maladaptive IAI produced by a negatively biased self-model that cannot reconcile inconsistent tendencies to approach and avoid social interaction. Anticipated future social interactions produce interoceptive prediction error (bodily states of arousal). These interoceptive states are transcribed and experienced as states of distress due to the influence of inconsistent and unstable self-models across a hierarchy of interrelated systems involved in emotional, interoceptive and affective processing. We highlight the role of the insula cortex, in concert with the striatum, amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate in the generation and reduction of interoceptive prediction errors as well as the resolution of social approach-avoidance conflict. The novelty of our account is a shift in explanatory priority from the representation of the social world in SAD to the representation of the SAD self. In particular, we show how a high-level conceptual self-model of social vulnerability and inadequacy fails to minimize prediction errors produced by a basic drive for social affiliation combined with strong avoidant tendencies. The result is a cascade of interoceptive prediction errors whose attempted minimization through action (i.e. active inference) yields the symptom profile of SAD. We conclude this article by proposing testable hypotheses to further investigate the neurocognitive traits of the SAD self with respect to IAI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Gerrans
- Department of Philosophy, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Ryan J Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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19
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Reilly EE, Whitton AE, Pizzagalli DA, Rutherford AV, Stein MB, Paulus MP, Taylor CT. Diagnostic and dimensional evaluation of implicit reward learning in social anxiety disorder and major depression. Depress Anxiety 2020; 37:1221-1230. [PMID: 32906219 DOI: 10.1002/da.23081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Revised: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Increasing evidence supports the presence of an anhedonic endophenotype in major depressive disorder (MDD), characterized by impairments in various components of reward processing, particularly incentive motivation, effort-based decision making, and reward learning. In addition to its prominent role in MDD, reward processing dysregulation has been proposed as a transdiagnostic risk and/or maintenance factor for a range of other forms of psychopathology. Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD)-a condition that frequently co-occurs with MDD-demonstrate low trait positive affectivity and altered processing of rewards and positively valenced information. However, no studies to date have directly tested reward learning-the ability to modulate behavior in response to rewards-in this population. MATERIALS AND METHODS The current study evaluated reward learning in MDD, SAD, and healthy control subjects (N = 90) using a well-validated signal detection task. Given increasing data supporting transdiagnostic features of psychopathology, we also evaluated associations between anhedonia and task performance transdiagnostically in the patient sample. RESULTS Contrary to expectations, results indicated no significant group differences in response bias in the full sample, suggesting no diagnostic differences in reward learning. However, dimensional analyses revealed that higher self-reported anhedonia (but not general distress or anxious arousal) was associated with worse reward learning in both the MDD and SAD groups explaining about 11% of the variance. CONCLUSION Deficits in implicit reward learning are associated with anhedonia but not necessarily with major depressive disorder as a diagnosis, which supports the use of transdiagnostic approaches to understanding psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin E Reilly
- Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.,Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, California
| | - Alexis E Whitton
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts.,School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Diego A Pizzagalli
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts
| | - Ashleigh V Rutherford
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts.,Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Murray B Stein
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, California
| | - Martin P Paulus
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, California.,Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma
| | - Charles T Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, California
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20
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Aldridge-Waddon L, Vanova M, Munneke J, Puzzo I, Kumari V. Atypical social reward anticipation as a transdiagnostic characteristic of psychopathology: A meta-analytic review and critical evaluation of current evidence. Clin Psychol Rev 2020; 82:101942. [PMID: 33160160 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Several psychopathologies (e.g. schizophrenia spectrum conditions, autism spectrum disorders) are characterised by atypical interpersonal and social behaviour, and there is increasing evidence to suggest this atypical social behaviour is related to adjusted behavioural and neural anticipation of social rewards. This review brings together social reward anticipation research in psychopathology (k = 42) and examines the extent to which atypical social reward anticipation is a transdiagnostic characteristic. Meta-analyses of anticipatory reaction times revealed that, in comparison to healthy controls, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and schizophrenia spectrum conditions are associated with significantly reduced behavioural anticipation of social rewards. The pooled meta-analysis of anticipatory reaction times found that the full clinical sample demonstrated significant social reward hypoanticipation in comparison to the healthy control group with a medium effect size. A narrative synthesis of meta-analytically ineligible behavioural data, self-report data, and neuroimaging studies complemented the results of the meta-analysis, but also indicated that bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and sexual addiction disorders may be associated with social reward hyperanticipation. The evaluation of existing evidence suggests that future research should better account for factors that affect reward anticipation (e.g. gender, psychotropic medication) and highlights the importance of using stimuli other than happy faces as social rewards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke Aldridge-Waddon
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences & Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, UK.
| | - Martina Vanova
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences & Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, UK
| | - Jaap Munneke
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences & Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, UK
| | - Ignazio Puzzo
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences & Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, UK
| | - Veena Kumari
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences & Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, UK
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21
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Carvalho FR, Nóbrega CDR, Martins AT. Mapping gene expression in social anxiety reveals the main brain structures involved in this disorder. Behav Brain Res 2020; 394:112808. [PMID: 32707139 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Revised: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is characterized by emotional and attentional biases as well as distorted negative self-beliefs. According this, we proposed to identify the brain structures and hub genes involved in SAD. An analysis in Pubmed and TRANSFAC was conducted and 72 genes were identified. Using Microarray data, from Allen Human Brain Atlas, it was possible to identify three modules of co-expressed genes from our gene set (R package WGCNA). Higher mean gene expression was found in cortico-medial group, basomedial nucleus, ATZ in amygdala and in head and tail of the caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens and putamen in striatum. Our enrichment analysis identified the followed hub genes: DRD2, HTR1A, JUN, SP1 and HDAC4. We suggest that SAD is explained by delayed extinction of circuitry for conditioned fear. Caused by reduced activation of the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems,due diminished expectation of reward during social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe Ricardo Carvalho
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine, University of Algarve, Portugal; University of Algarve Campus De Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
| | - Clévio David Rodrigues Nóbrega
- Center for Biomedicine Research (CBMR), University of Algarve, Portugal; Department of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine, University of Algarve, Portugal; Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC); University of Algarve Campus De Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
| | - Ana Teresa Martins
- Center for Biomedicine Research (CBMR), University of Algarve, Portugal; Department of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Algarve, Portugal; University of Algarve Campus De Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
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22
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Carlton CN, Sullivan-Toole H, Ghane M, Richey JA. Reward Circuitry and Motivational Deficits in Social Anxiety Disorder: What Can Be Learned From Mouse Models? Front Neurosci 2020; 14:154. [PMID: 32174811 PMCID: PMC7054462 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common and serious psychiatric condition that typically emerges during adolescence and persists into adulthood if left untreated. Prevailing interventions focus on modulating threat and arousal systems but produce only modest rates of remission. This gap in efficacy suggests that most mainstream treatment concepts do not sufficiently target core processes involved in the onset and maintenance of SAD. This idea has further driven the development of new theoretical models that target dopamine (DA)-driven reward circuitry and motivational deficits that appear to be systematically altered in SAD. Most of the available data linking systemic alterations in DA neurobiology to SAD in humans, although abundant, remains at the level of correlational evidence. Accordingly, the purpose of this brief review is to critically evaluate the relevance of experimental work in rodent models that link details of DA function to symptoms of social anxiety. We conclude that, despite certain systematic limitations inherent in animal models, these approaches provide useful insights into human biomarkers of social anxiety including that (1) adolescence may serve as a critical period for the convergence of neurobiological and environmental factors that modify future expectations about social reward through experience dependent changes in DA-ergic circuitry, (2) females may show unique susceptibility to social anxiety symptoms when encountering relational instability that influences DA-related neural processes, and (3) separate from fear and arousal systems, the functional neurobiology of central DA systems contribute uniquely to susceptibility and maintenance of anhedonic factors relevant to human models of SAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corinne N Carlton
- Clinical Science Program, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States
| | - Holly Sullivan-Toole
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States
| | - Merage Ghane
- Clinical Science Program, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States
| | - John A Richey
- Clinical Science Program, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States
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23
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Richey JA, Brewer JA, Sullivan-Toole H, Strege MV, Kim-Spoon J, White SW, Ollendick TH. Sensitivity shift theory: A developmental model of positive affect and motivational deficits in social anxiety disorder. Clin Psychol Rev 2019; 72:101756. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2018] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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Papalini S, Lange I, Bakker J, Michielse S, Marcelis M, Wichers M, Vervliet B, van Os J, Van Amelsvoort T, Goossens L, Schruers K. The predictive value of neural reward processing on exposure therapy outcome: Results from a randomized controlled trial. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2019; 92:339-346. [PMID: 30763673 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2018] [Revised: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 02/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposure is the gold standard treatment for phobic anxiety and is thought to represent the clinical application of extinction learning. Reward sensitivity might however also represent a predictive factor for exposure therapy outcome, as this therapy promotes positive experiences and involves positive comments by the therapist. We hypothesized that high reward sensitivity, as expressed by elevated reward expectancy and reward value, can be associated with better outcome to exposure therapy specifically. METHODS Forty-four participants with a specific phobia for spiders were included in the current study. Participants were randomly assigned to exposure therapy (n = 25) or progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) (n = 19). Treatment outcome was defined as pre- versus post-therapy phobia symptoms. Before treatment, functional brain responses and behavioral responses (i.e. reaction time and accuracy) during reward anticipation and consumption were assessed with the Monetary Incentive Delay task (MID). Behavioral and neural responses in regions of interest (i.e. nucleus accumbens, ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the ventral tegmental area) as well as across the whole-brain were subsequently regressed on treatment outcomes. RESULTS Exposure therapy was more effective in reducing phobia symptoms than PMR. Longer reaction times to reward cues and lower activation in the left posterior cingulate cortex during reward consumption were selectively associated with symptoms reductions following exposure therapy but not following PMR. Only within the exposure therapy group, greater symptom reduction was related to increased activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex during reward anticipation, and decreased activation in the medial prefrontal cortex during reward consumption. CONCLUSION Results indicate that individual differences in reward sensitivity can specifically predict exposure therapy outcome. Although activation in regions of interest were not related to therapy outcome, regions involved in attentional processing of reward cues were predictive of phobic symptom change following exposure therapy but not PMR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Papalini
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Iris Lange
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Jindra Bakker
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Stijn Michielse
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Machteld Marcelis
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Marieke Wichers
- Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (ICPE), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jim van Os
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, King's Health Partners, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Therese Van Amelsvoort
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Liesbet Goossens
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Koen Schruers
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Rouhani N, Wimmer GE, Schneier FR, Fyer AJ, Shohamy D, Simpson HB. Impaired generalization of reward but not loss in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Depress Anxiety 2019; 36:121-129. [PMID: 30484928 PMCID: PMC6945299 DOI: 10.1002/da.22857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2018] [Revised: 09/24/2018] [Accepted: 10/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Generalizing from past experiences can be adaptive by allowing those experiences to guide behavior in new situations. Generalizing too much, however, can be maladaptive. For example, individuals with pathological anxiety are believed to overgeneralize emotional responses from past threats, broadening their scope of fears. Whether individuals with pathological anxiety overgeneralize in other situations remains unclear. METHODS The present study (N = 57) used a monetary sensory preconditioning paradigm with rewards and losses to address this question in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD), comparing them to healthy comparison subjects (HC). In all groups, we tested direct learning of associations between cues and reward vs. loss outcomes, as well as generalization of learning to novel choice options. RESULTS We found no differences between the three groups in the direct learning of stimuli with their outcomes: all subjects demonstrated intact stimulus-response learning by choosing rewarding options and avoiding negative ones. However, OCD subjects were less likely to generalize from rewards than either the SAD or HC groups, and this impairment was not found for losses. Additionally, greater deficits in reward generalization were correlated with severity of threat estimation, as measured by a subscale of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire, both within OCD and across all groups. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that a compromised ability to generalize from rewarding events may impede adaptive behavior in OCD and in those susceptible to high estimation of threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Rouhani
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
| | - George Elliott Wimmer
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Franklin R Schneier
- Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - Abby J Fyer
- Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - Daphna Shohamy
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Helen Blair Simpson
- Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
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Doruyter AG, Dupont P, Stein DJ, Lochner C, Warwick JM. Nuclear Neuroimaging in Social Anxiety Disorder: A Review. J Nucl Med 2018; 59:1794-1800. [DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.118.212795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Accepted: 10/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
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Klumpp H, Fitzgerald JM. Neuroimaging Predictors and Mechanisms of Treatment Response in Social Anxiety Disorder: an Overview of the Amygdala. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2018; 20:89. [PMID: 30155657 PMCID: PMC9278878 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-018-0948-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Aberrant amygdala activity is implicated in the neurobiology of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and is, therefore, a treatment target. However, the extent to which amygdala predicts clinical improvement or is impacted by treatment has not been critically examined. This review highlights recent neuroimaging findings from clinical trials and research that test links between amygdala and mechanisms of action. RECENT FINDINGS Neuropredictor studies largely comprised psychotherapy where improvement was foretold by amygdala activity and regions beyond amygdala such as frontal structures (e.g., anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex) and areas involved in visual processes (e.g., occipital regions, superior temporal gyrus). Pre-treatment functional connectivity between amygdala and frontal areas was also shown to predict improvement signifying circuits that support emotion processing and regulation interact with treatment. Pre-to-post studies revealed decreases in amygdala response and altered functional connectivity in amygdala pathways regardless of treatment modality. In analogue studies of fear exposure, greater reduction in anxiety was predicted by less amygdala response to a speech challenge and amygdala activity decreased following exposures. Yet, studies have also failed to detect amygdala effects reporting instead treatment-related changes in regions and functional systems that support sensory, emotion, and regulation processes. An array of regions in the corticolimbic subcircuits and extrastriate cortex appear to be viable sites of action. The amygdala and amygdala pathways predict treatment outcome and are altered following treatment. However, further study is needed to establish the role of the amygdala and other candidate regions and brain circuits as sites of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heide Klumpp
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W. Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL, 60608, USA.
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28
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Strege MV, Swain D, Bochicchio L, Valdespino A, Richey JA. A Pilot Study of the Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Positive Affect and Social Anxiety Symptoms. Front Psychol 2018; 9:866. [PMID: 29910759 PMCID: PMC5992451 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is efficacious in reducing residual depressive symptoms and preventing future depressive episodes (Kuyken et al., 2016). One potential treatment effect of MBCT may be improvement of positive affect (PA), due to improved awareness of daily positive events (Geschwind et al., 2011). Considering social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by diminished PA (Brown et al., 1998; Kashdan, 2007), we sought to determine whether MBCT would reduce social anxiety symptoms, and whether this reduction would be associated with improvement of PA deficits. Adults (N = 22) who met criteria for varied anxiety disorders participated in a small, open-label trial of an 8-week manualized MBCT intervention. Most participants presented with either a diagnosis (primary, secondary, or tertiary) of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (N = 15) and/or SAD (N = 14) prior to treatment, with eight individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for both GAD and SAD. We hypothesized participants would demonstrate improvements in social anxiety symptoms, which would be predicted by improvements in PA, not reductions in negative affect (NA). Results of several hierarchical linear regression analyses (completed in both full and disorder-specific samples) indicated that improvements in PA but not reductions in NA predicted social anxiety improvement. This effect was not observed for symptoms of worry, which were instead predicted by decreased NA for individuals diagnosed with GAD and both decreased NA and increased PA in the entire sample. Results suggest that MBCT may be efficacious in mitigating social anxiety symptoms, and this therapeutic effect may be linked to improvements in PA. However, further work is necessary considering the small, heterogeneous sample, uncontrolled study design, and exploratory nature of the study.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - John A. Richey
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States
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Becker MPI, Simon D, Miltner WHR, Straube T. Altered activation of the ventral striatum under performance-related observation in social anxiety disorder. Psychol Med 2017; 47:2502-2512. [PMID: 28464974 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291717001076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by fear of social and performance situations. The consequence of scrutiny by others for the neural processing of performance feedback in SAD is unknown. METHODS We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain activation to positive, negative, and uninformative performance feedback in patients diagnosed with SAD and age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy control subjects who performed a time estimation task during a social observation condition and a non-social control condition: while either being monitored or unmonitored by a body camera, subjects received performance feedback after performing a time estimation that they could not fully evaluate without external feedback. RESULTS We found that brain activation in ventral striatum (VS) and midcingulate cortex was modulated by an interaction of social context and feedback type. SAD patients showed a lack of social-context-dependent variation of feedback processing, while control participants showed an enhancement of brain responses specifically to positive feedback in VS during observation. CONCLUSIONS The present findings emphasize the importance of social-context processing in SAD by showing that scrutiny prevents appropriate reward-processing-related signatures in response to positive performances in SAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P I Becker
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology,Friedrich Schiller University,D-07743 Jena,Germany
| | - D Simon
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology,Friedrich Schiller University,D-07743 Jena,Germany
| | - W H R Miltner
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology,Friedrich Schiller University,D-07743 Jena,Germany
| | - T Straube
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology,Friedrich Schiller University,D-07743 Jena,Germany
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Abstract
In the DSM5, negative symptoms are 1 of the 5 core dimensions of psychopathology evaluated for schizophrenia. However, negative symptoms are not pathognomonic-they are also part of the diagnostic criteria for other schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, disorders that sometimes have comorbid psychosis, diagnoses not in the schizophrenia-spectrum, and the general "nonclinical" population. Although etiological models of negative symptoms have been developed for chronic schizophrenia, there has been little attention given to whether these models have transdiagnostic applicability. In the current review, we examine areas of commonality and divergence in the clinical presentation and etiology of negative symptoms across diagnostic categories. It was concluded that negative symptoms are relatively frequent across diagnostic categories, but individual disorders may differ in whether their negative symptoms are persistent/transient or primary/secondary. Evidence for separate dimensions of volitional and expressive symptoms exists, and there may be multiple mechanistic pathways to the same symptom phenomenon among DSM-5 disorders within and outside the schizophrenia-spectrum (ie, equifinality). Evidence for a novel transdiagnostic etiological model is presented based on the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) constructs, which proposes the existence of 2 such pathways-a hedonic pathway and a cognitive pathway-that can both lead to expressive or volitional symptoms. To facilitate treatment breakthroughs, future transdiagnostic studies on negative symptoms are warranted that explore mechanisms underlying volitional and expressive pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory P Strauss
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin Street, Athens, GA 30602
| | - Alex S Cohen
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
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